LAHUG with Andrew Lowell: Music Generation in Houdini

This talk is a culmination of Andrew Lowell’s personal research and development into Houdini music-score generation. The talk will explore areas of music too complex for both composers and instrumentalists; done instead with generative design, and various simulation methods including flip fluids.

Talk and conversation topics include SOPs MIDI generation, musical retiming, adaptive and procedural inflection methods (velocity and timing), currently developing music simulation methods implementing particles, and Houdini’s top-end fluids.

Production

His career in the media arts started in music recording/mixing and also branched into video editing, compositing, and 3D FX; Eventually breaking into the Visual Effects industry in Los Angeles. Since then his career has spanned several countries, and major studios such as Rhythm and Hues, CIS Vancouver, Animal Logic, and Digital Domain.

Andrew’s professional growth in the field was fueled by keeping his skill set diverse. He is always exploring new areas and techniques spanning from hero destruction, to crowds, magical effects, a wide assortment of environmental effects, custom setups for the weirdest shots as well as fluid simulation, always taking on the most challenging FX disciplines.

Education

Many professionals shy away from training, and many teachers don’t actively engage themselves in production. For Andrew, these two areas complement one another.

His career in education started by teaching generalist courses in Los Angeles, and soon after became one of the first Autodesk certified trainers. Once discovering Sidefx’s Houdini software, he released a book on Houdini’s Music and Motion capabilities, and began to do lectures to processionals at the Sidefx office. Since then Andrew has taught Houdini internationally, such as training studios in Mumbai, teaching instructors in Guadalajara, Houdini instruction in Denmark, Holland, Serbia, and Masterclasses in LA, Sydney, Warsaw, Moscow, and Vancouver. He has also performed three online Houdini courses for FXPHD. Andrew continually designs as well as instructs the world-renowned FX technical director program at Lost Boys school of Visual FX in Vancouver.

Passions

Andrew constantly pushes Houdini’s music and sound processing/synthesis abilities. Also Houdini’s music visualization capabilities. Personal work involves procedurally generated music composition and two way musical interaction with graphics and fluid simulation.